Flight attendant Steven Slater on Monday all but guaranteed that he’ll never have to deal with a disgruntled passenger again.
While JetBlue Flight 1052 was taxiing to the gate at New York-JFK after a flight, a passenger reportedly attempted to remove his bag from the overhead bin. A heated argument ensued when Slater told the passenger to wait until the plane had reached the terminal and stopped moving.
According to the Daily News, Slater then got on the PA to make a very special announcement:
“To the passenger who called me a m—f–er, f— you,” flight attendant Steven Slater ranted over the intercom, passengers said.
“I’ve been in the business 28 years. I’ve had it. That’s it.”
When the plane made it to the gate, Slater allegedly grabbed two beers from the galley, deployed one of the Embraer E190’s emergency escape slides, glided down to the tarmac and walked through Terminal 5 to the AirTrain, where he was seen throwing his jetBlue uniform tie to the ground. He rode the train to the long-term parking lot and drove home.
Though jetBlue says passengers were never in any danger, deploying an emergency slide is no laughing matter: They can cost around $10,000 to replace, not including losses incurred from the plane being out of service while the work is done. As a result, Port Authority Police arrested Slater at his home in Queens. He awaits indictment on reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges.